Dudu Aouate

Dudu Aouate
דודו אוואט

Personal information
Full name	David Aouate
Date of birth	October 17, 1977 (1977-10-17)
Place of birth	Nazareth Illit, Israel
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Mallorca
Number	13
Youth career
	Maccabi Haifa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–1997	Maccabi Haifa	0	(0)
1995–1996	→ Hapoel Nazareth Illit (loan)	3	(0)
1997–1998	Maccabi Tel Aviv	1	(0)
1998–2001	Hapoel Haifa	104	(0)
2001–2003	Maccabi Haifa	60	(0)
2003–2006	Racing Santander	78	(0)
2006–2008	Deportivo La Coruña	66	(0)
2009–	Mallorca	103	(0)
National team‡
1998–1999	Israel U21	12	(0)
1999–	Israel	64	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2011

David "Dudu" Aouate (Hebrew: דוד "דודו" אוואט‎, pronounced Dūdū Ahwaht; born 17 October 1977 in Nazareth Illit) is an Israeli footballer who plays for RCD Mallorca in Spain, as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Aouate began his career at Maccabi Haifa F.C. at youth level, as an understudy to Nir Davidovich. Wanting first team football he was loaned to Hapoel Nazareth Illit but never got a real chance until he transferred to Hapoel Haifa FC, having been assured that he would be the club's first-choice, but he again found himself struggling to establish himself as such.

Early in the 1998–99 season, however, the team's regular, Avi Peretz, was injured and Aouate took his place. Hapoel eventually won the championship that year and he was praised for his performances. By the time Peretz recovered, Aouate was irreplaceable.

Aouate's performances for Hapoel saw him get called up to the Israel national football team in 1999. In 2001–02, Aouate returned to Maccabi Haifa as a cover for Davidovich who was seriously injured. They won the championship, and Aouate established himself as the undisputed first-choice. He also gained increasing recognition after performing fabulously for the national team, and was soon considered by many the leading goalkeeper in the country.

During the 2002–03 season, Aouate was the starter as Maccabi played in the UEFA Champions League, the first time an Israeli squad made it to the group stage of the competition. Haifa finished in third place in their group following a historic victory over powerhouse Manchester United, finishing runners-up in the league, to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Aouate's solid performances earned him a move to European football, with Spanish club Racing de Santander signing him on 17 July 2003.

Aouate's move to Spain was made easier by the fact that he obtained a French passport, thus not counting as a foreigner. After forcing his way into the starting line-up in 2004–05 (playing 74 matches in his final two years) due to Ricardo's loan return to Manchester United, Aouate signed a four-year contract with fellow La Liga outfit Deportivo de La Coruña in August 2006, in a swap deal involving three players plus €1.5 million. He quickly paid back the confidence of Deportivo with an excellent season (playing in all 38 matches). Don Balón, a Spanish football magazine, placed Aouate eighth on their list of La Liga's Footballer of the Year in 2006–07.

In 2007–08, in January 2008, after losing first-choice status to Uruguayan Gustavo Munúa, both goalkeepers were involved in a post-training punching session that resulted in both being suspended for the match against Villarreal CF, as well as subsequent league games. In February, due to B-team keeper Fabri's inexperience, both players were reinstated in the squad, with the Israeli regaining top-goalkeeper duties.

In late December, as he had been training separately with Munúa, not being part of Depor manager Miguel Ángel Lotina's plans, Aouate signed with RCD Mallorca for approximately €1 million until June 2011, as the Balearic Islands outfit was struggling in the league and dealing with an injury to first-choice Miguel Ángel Moyà.

On 8 January 2009, Aouate made his debut for Mallorca in his team's 3–1 Spanish Cup win over UD Almería. Four days later, with Moyá still injured, he appeared in a 3–0 league loss at Real Madrid.

Yom Kippur controversy

In an interview with Spain's Diario AS, Aouate was asked about the significance of Yom Kippur and some general questions about the prohibitions of the holiday. Aouate added that he understood that playing football in this holiday was not allowed, but stated that if forced to play against Real Sociedad, in a September 2006 match, he would. His comments swirled a huge controversy in Israel with even a member of the Shas party calling for Aouate to be removed from the national team.

In September 2010, Aouate decided not to play against CA Osasuna because the game was supposed to start 18 minutes before the end of the Jewish fast day, and Mallorca accepted his rationale.

Antisemitism

In December 2009, during a match between Osasuna and Mallorca, Aouate was subjected to antisemitic chants coming from the Navarrese supporters. Additionally, they waved Palestinian flags and called him "a murderer". The Royal Spanish Football Federation set up an inquiry into the incident, this being already the second time the player faced such abuse (the previous occurrence also being against Osasuna in 2006, while Aouate was with Deportivo).

International career

Aouate's strong domestic form earned him a first international call-up, which concluded on October 10, 1999 with his debut, a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Spain (0–3 loss). Since then, he became an integral member of the national team set-up.

Honours

Hapoel Haifa

• Israeli League: 1998–99
• Toto Cup: 2000–01

Maccabi Haifa

• Israeli League: 2001–02
• Toto Cup: 2001–02

Personal life

Aouate is married to Hagit Aouate, having two daughters and one son.

See also

• List of select Jewish association football players

External links

• Mallorca official profile
• Real Mallorca bio (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• Dudu Aouate at National-Football-Teams.com
• Dudu Aouate – FIFA competition record
• Transfermarkt profile